1. The Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to the field of media player devices. More particularly, embodiments of the present invention relate to the creation of an implicitly determined user rank on a media player device that can predict content of interest as well as automatically add and delete content from the media player.
2. The Relevant Technology
Digital media comes in a variety of different formats and can be enjoyed on a wide variety of devices. Many of these devices, such as digital audio devices (e.g., MP3 players), CD players, DVD players, notebook computers, cellular telephones, and personal digital assistants, are portable devices with wireless capabilities. The growth in portable device technology corresponds with a growth in wireless network technology and the ability to distribute digital media. As a result, digital media can be received over wireless networks that include, for example, Internet Protocol (IP) based networks, radio networks, cellular networks, and Wireless Fidelity (WiFi) networks.
Digital media can also be received over satellite radio networks. Satellite Radio, or Satellite Digital Audio Radio Service (SDARS), is the broadcast of digital audio programming via satellites directly to users. Through satellite radio, subscribers can receive high quality, uninterrupted, digital data such as radio over more than one hundred channels. Digital quality music, talk radio, sports, news, and weather are examples of the content available over satellite radio. Often, in order to take advantage of the content offered over satellite radio networks, a user of satellite radio needs a portable device that can receive and ultimately play or perform the digital media content.
One of the goals the media content providers, such as satellite radio providers, want to achieve is enabling users to maximize their listening enjoyment. The more satisfied a user is with the technology and media the user uses, the more likely the user is to dedicate his or her time and entertainment dollars to that media. There are several tools that currently exist and that to help a user discover content they may enjoy. For example, users that purchase songs from a website can provide the website with certain preferences that help the website suggest songs that the user may want to purchase. When a user indicates that he or she prefers a certain genre, then artists included in that genre may be presented to the user. When a user identifies a particular artist, the website can present similar artists to the user. The website uses these preferences to minimize the searching that the user performs as well as to encourage the sale of the new content. Using user preferences to suggest songs is often successful because users are more likely to purchase content if they have some assurance that it is similar to content with which they are familiar.
While websites can attempt to identify content of interest for a user, the user preference is ultimately a personal decision that is not constrained by artificial categories. In addition, users do not have unlimited storage capacity on their media player devices in which they can store content of lesser interest. As users obtain more and more content, whether from recorded satellite radio, purchased on-line content, or another source, systems and methods are needed to help users identify content of greater interest and store such content on their media player devices in preference to content of lesser interest.